Adopted
by Ethan Demas
Summary: His parents were midgets compared to him. Their hair was brown and red, but his was black. Was he part of their family? Was he really a Goldstein by blood?
1. Chapter 1

**17 years**

The gentle giant caressed his girlfriends face, as he looked lovingly at her. Her swollen belly held their first child, but he was unsure if they would be able to take care of their child while still being on collage. He had come to the decision to ask his wife to call the couple of friends that had gotten married and had a stable home. It might be the best chance their son got at a future.

"I hope they will take our child and give him the life we can't." the man said as he gently caressed her belly.

 **Biffy**

It was obvious since he had been little, but he tried to ignore it. His parents we intelligent and made sure he was as well, giving him private lessons and teaching him from a young age. This advanced education enabled him to see the world much more clearly than most children his age. Thus the signs became more obvious and as much as he wanted to ignore it he couldn't do it any longer. The the fact that he was built like a bear and nearly as tall as one as well, plus the fact that he had black hair and both his parents were extremely short and had lighter hair.

So it left him with two possible choices, but the one of them was a bit far fetched, even for him. That being said, the first option is that he is a genetically engineered human. In a sense that could work out, again, pointing to his ability to gain and maintain his muscle. His intelligence was also a factor there, since the only other people as smart as him were the geeks. His second option seemed much more likely, but it was the worst between the two options. He was adopted.

That would explain his height and his hair colour. It would also mean that his parents lied to him by omission, which hurt him quite a lot. Biffy growled as he gathered his evidence and walked downstairs to their dining room where his parents sat. They both looked at him and went back to whatever they were doing before he cleared his throat.

"Mom, dad... The past few days I have gathered evidence that suggest that I am either a genetically modified human or I am adopted." He said, slightly afraid of continuing. "I checked your blood-types and compared them to mine and it's impossible to get my blood-type, so I just need to know. Am I adopted?"

A pained expression met his gaze when he looked at his parents, his mother had tears in her eyes. He knew it right away, he was adopted. He didn't care that they weren't his biological parents, they at least loved him and took care of him. He did wonder about his biological parents though, who were they? Why did they give him up for adoption?

"I feared you would one day ask us this..." his father began, but hesitated to continue. "I am sorry Biffy, but we are not your biological parents."

"I couldn't have children..." his mother began to cry. "It's not your father's fault, we tried and tried, but we just couldn't."

Biffy walked over to his parents and hugged them both, a small smile on his face. "It's okay ma, I was just curious that's all."

She smiled sadly. "Your such a sweet boy."

"Thanks ma."

"Your parents are a couple of scientist, they went to collage with us. We graduated before them, but kept in contact with them. A few years later, after I discovered I couldn't have children, your mother called me. She was panicking because she was about to give birth to a boy and she and her husband hadn't settled yet. They were newlyweds, and didn't have enough money to take care of a baby.

"One thing led to another and 2 months later I adopted the most adorable boy ever. Maddie made me promise that I would at least give her updates on you and how you grew up. She loved you when she first saw you, and it hurt her to give you up." His mother explained.

His father took out an album from the bookshelf near them and paged in in until he found a picture. There stood a giant man and a petite woman, smiling at the camera. Biffy could see the features he had gotten from both of them, but frowned when he realised his mom said she was still in contact with his biological mother.

"Thanks for being honest with me mom, I guess I know why I am so big now. I mean mom, did you see the size of that guy?" he said with a chuckle.

He parents tried to laugh, but he could hear the strain in their voices and the sadness in their eyes. "I still love you guys no matter what. Even if your not my parents and adopted me from some weird couple, you're my parents no matter what."

 **7 Months later**

On his way home, Biffy notices that there were multiple cars parked in front of his house, more than one of which were police cars. His mind instantly went into overdrive as he thought of each possible scenario that would lead to these cars being outside his home. None of those scenarios were pleasant at all, and he silently prayed that nothing bad had happened to his parents.

His heart raced faster and faster as he neared the house, hearing voices of people talking inside. He strained his ears to hear what was being said, but he only managed to get bits of pieces that made his heart pound even faster than he had thought possible.

"... they died in an explosion." "Biffy Tawilager Goldstein's parents died." "Only one survivor…" "... needs to live with relatives…"

His heart seemed to drop the farther and farther the more he heard, so he just needed to know what happened and open the door. Looking inside, he saw his parents sitting on the couch , holding each other for comfort. His mother looked close to tears, and his father's face was grim, a stark contrast to their usually cheerful nature. The pieces slowly fell together when he realised they said that his parent's died. His biological parents had died, but who was the survivor and what did they mean by live with relatives?

"Sweety… We have some terrible news." his mom said softly.

"Biffy sit down please." his father asked.

Complying with his father's wishes, he sad down on the larger sofa opposite the police and the social worker. Turning to his father again with a curious face.

"What's going on?" he asked, uncertainty in his voice.

The officer seemed to realise that they had trouble telling him and sighed. "Son, two months ago an explosion killed your biological parents and sister, the only survivor was your little brother."

"The boy has been in a coma for at least a month and a half before he woke up last week. Vlad Masters tried to get custody of the boy, but since you are his biological brother and you have a family, the court thought it would be best if he was put with you, that is if you accept the responsibility Mr. and Mrs. Goldstein."

Biffy didn't know how to react to what was just said. On the one hand, he didn't know his real parents, so their deaths really didn't affect him all that much, but in a way it is going to affect him now. He had a little brother that had just been orphaned, and if he is right, than he would be staying with them from now on. He didn't mind getting a little brother, in fact he always wanted one, but not under these circumstances.

He didn't know how old the boy was, but it didn't matter because he had lost everything dear to him and now he was being thrust into a group of people he doesn't even know. Only a piece of paper saying that one of those people was his brother. He realised that he hadn't said anything for a minute after they gave him that little piece of information.

"Where is he now?" Biffy asked softly.

"He's in your room." His mother answered.

Biffy nodded and got up, walking to his room. He didn't know what to expect, he didn't even ask his name or age before he left the living room downstairs. What would he say? How would he react to finding out he has an older brother? Growling at himself, he shook the thoughts from his head. ' _No, I am the only person he has left. I need to look out for him, it's my job as the older brother._ '

Opening the door, he saw a small boy with bright blue eyes and raven black hair sitting on his bed clutching a teddy in his arms. He was possibly only 5 or 6 years old. He looked up at Biffy , his blue eyes looking into Biffy's own. Realising he still had his contacts in, Biffy turned around and removed the coloured contacts so the boy could see his blue eyes. The boy's eyes lit up, seeming to recognize the blue eyes when he turned back.

"Daddy?" he asked.

"Uh… No, sorry kiddo. I'm your big brother."

"Oh…" the boy said and looked to the ground. "Did mommy and daddy send me away because I was bad?"

'They... They didn't tell him? H-how was I supposed to tell him this?' It made Biffy angry, but he kept his facial expression calm. He smiled sadly at his little brother.

"No buddy uh.. mommy and daddy went to heaven."

"B-but why would they leave me and you here? why did they take Jazzy and not us?" he asked, tears forming in his eyes.

Biffy knelt down in front of him. "Sometimes, they have to do things we don't like to make sure we grow up to be good people. They didn't mean to hurt you…"

His brother nodded.

"You're not going to leave me like mommy and daddy and jazzy did are you?" he asked sadly

"No, I'll never leave you kiddo." He said with a bright smile on his face.


	2. Chapter 2

**1 Week after Danny's arrival**

Biffy relaxed on his new bed, but his room felt so empty without his little brother in it. He was use to sleeping on the floor on the tiny mattress and would snuggle up with Danny when he had a nightmare. He found it odd that it was a recurring nightmare, that would leave his little brother gasping for breath and crying. Mumbling the same words over and over in his nightmare as he tumbled around in the bed. It was only when he laid next to him and pulled him to sleep on his chest that Danny would calm down.

"Please don't hurt mommy and daddy." he would mumble.

Biffy wondered what he saw, to cause him to have recurring nightmares about the event. He could have sworn he had also seen his little brother walk thru objects from time to time, but he dismissed it to being paranoid about the whole thing happening at school. Biffy turned his head to the door when he heard footsteps stop outside it, but nobody enter his room. He quickly got up from his bed to look who it was, only for the door to open and his little brother to walk inside, clutching his teddy under his arm with tears in his eyes.

"I-i had a bad dream, and you weren't there." he said between hiccups.

"I'm sorry lil bro, wanna sleep next to me tonight?" he asked.

Danny nodded and walked to his bed, but Biffy scooped him up and carried him over to the bed. He laid him in the bed before getting in himself and pulling his little brother close. Smiling at the little boy, who fell asleep almost immediately.

"Don't worry Danny, I'll protect you no matter what." he whispered softly.

Biffy woke up with Danny still asleep in his arm, his head resting on his chest. He couldn't help but think of all the pain he had gone thru in his short life, and still be so innocent. It made his heart ache and his stomach twist into knots, just trying to comprehend what he must have felt and experience. He had no doubt that the nightmares would continue for a long, until Danny eventually deals with his demons.

Looking over to his bedside table he saw it was already 6:40AM and he needed to get ready for school and help Danny get ready. He slipped out of the bed and took a shower, silently thanking his parents for the millionth time for building it so large. After completing his morning routine he went down to the kitchen and prepared a quick breakfast of toast, bacon and eggs. He quickly shoved the dishes in the dishwasher before going to wake up his little brother. He gently shook his brother.

"Wake up Danny, it's time for breakfast." Biffy said.

"One more minute Biffy." he mumbled into the pillow.

Chuckling, Biffy started to tickle Danny causing him to squirm and laugh. He tried to hide under the blankets, but there was no escape from the ticklish torture.

"Ready to get up yet?" he asked.

"Yes! Just stop! Stop tickling me!" Biffy stopped, but the look he gave his little brother promised he would start again if he didn't get up.

Groaning, Danny got out of his brothers bed and pouted. Half glaring at Biffy as he whined and walked to the bathroom, while Biffy couldn't help but chuckle as he stared after his little brother. He walked back downstairs and sat down, waiting for Danny to come and eat breakfast with him. A few minutes later, said boy came down and sat at the dining table still pouting.

"Come on, eat up your breakfast, we need to hurry up, the bus gets here in 15 minutes." Biffy said.

Danny moaned and slumped down into his chair as he ate. "Don't wanna go to school."

"Why not? It's the first day of the year and you already want to skip?"

"I just don't want to be the new kid at school." Danny complained. "My surname isn't even the same as yours!"

"Danny, what's wrong with that?"

"They're gonna know I was bad and let mommy and daddy die."

Biffy was glad that he wasn't eating anything, or else he would have choked on it. He couldn't believe what he just heard from Danny, and he looked like he believed it. He didn't know how Danny got to that conclusion, but now he understood why he didn't want to go to school. He didn't know what to say, what to do or even if he could.

"Danny, you know that's not true, you didn't let them die, what on earth gave you that idea?" Biffy asked him as he got eyelevel to Danny. "And if anybody tells you otherwise, tell me and I'll make sure they never bother you again."

Danny nodded, but was still reluctant to go to school. Biffy got Danny's school bag and waited with him for the bus, waving him goodbye when he left and waited for his own. This gave him time to think about everything for the past week, having been the last week of the holidays when his brother joined the household. He hoped that the kids at his school wouldn't make Danny feel more isolated than he already is after the accident.

Time flew by, with only the incident at lunch happening because he had been so lost in thought and gotten himself into detention. It worked in his favour though, because Danny had to stay late everyday after school because he was going to be seeing a psychologist about his nightmares. Right before before the two last periods, the entire school was called in to introduce their new school principal. The principal was busy speaking when it happened, the lights shut down and paint was splattered everywhere and frogs were released. When the lights came back on, everybody but the vice principal was covered in paint. The doors suddenly opened and a boy with dual toned hair started laughing until the principal gave him detention and his mother grounded him after a good tongue lashing.

Turns out the guy who everybody believes pranked us - Lee Ping - was actually pretty cool, not that I would tell anybody. Maybe Danny, but he was special. After helping him try to clear his name, I rushed to the elementary school to fetch my brother, but I got an unwanted surprise. I was called in to the psych's office to talk about him while he waited outside. It made me nervous to be alone with the doc, not because I was scared of her, rather I was scared for my brother.

"Mr. Goldstein I presume?" she asked.

"No, that's my dad. I'm just Biffy." I replied to which she frowned.

"Your father? I thought he had died?"

"I meant my adopted parents." She nodded, scribbling something down.

"I see, that would explain why young Daniel says he only has a brother."

I nodded at her statement, wondering where she was going with this. "Uhm, may I ask why I was called here?"

"Yes, sorry about that. Well, this was my first session with your little brother, but I have already discovered a few things." she looked at me seriously. "Biffy, I need you to understand this, your guardians or rather parents asked me to discuss Danny's condition with you, since he seems to have attached himself to you."

"I understand and I want to help my little brother."

"Good, because you're going to have to help him overcome a severe case of Survivor's Guilt." she said solemnly.

"Why? What? No, why would he have survivors guilt?" Biffy asked her, the shock in his voice visible on his face.

"Most of the times it happens because the person suffering from it feels they could have done something to prevent those around them from being hurt or killed."

His mutterings during the nightmares made sense now, but it still didn't shed any light onto why he thinks he could have saved them. He's only 5 years old, he couldn't have done something to prevent their deaths! Looking back at the doc, he could have sworn she looked at him with pity.

"What can I do to help him?"

"Talk to him when he has nightmares, as this seems to be the way it manifests most prominently."

"Thanks ."

"No problem at all."

He left her office and gave Danny a hug. "How are you kiddo?"

Danny smiled. "I made a friend today, his name is Kwan Long. He can change his eye colour just like I can!"

Biffy was puzzled at what his little brother just claimed, but shrugged it off as his imagination. "Well buddy, let's go home and get something to eat."

Danny nodded and turned to run out the school, but then he suddenly paused and turned back to him "Why do you have dried green paint all over you?"

"I'll tell you all about it at home."

* * *

 **Wisconsin**

"Now tell me again, why didn't I get custody of the boy? I am his godfather, as such I should have gotten him!" Vlad shouted at his lawyer.

"I am sorry mister Masters, the courts had the final say in the matter. They found that the boys brother was given to the other couple and thought to send him to his blood relative and sibling instead of a non related party."

"He didn't even know he had a brother!"

"With all due respect mister Masters, Danny didn't know you either."

Vlad growled and ended the call, there were three files in front of him documenting three unique cases of in vitro exposure to ectoplasm and ectoplasmic radiation. The documents were highly detailed, containing information on the subject that was being experimented on and her health. Several pages were dedicated to the developing fetus describing when and how much it had been exposed to the substance, even having detailed descriptions of what fluids could be found in the embryonic sack.

Most notable in the description of the experiment was the fetus' production of ectoplasm in the second month after initial exposure. Vlad held several pages in front of him, identifying and listing things that have mutated in the developing child in the womb. None of them had turned out to be fatal or be detrimental to the health of the child in the later years, but he still needed more information. Whether it be fate or luck, he had just discovered the missing test subject as well.

"Soon my little badger, soon you and that older sibling will be mine."


End file.
